Architectural Elements of a Perfect Coastal Florida Home

Embrace the outdoors while protecting your home from storms with these design ideas from a Floridian architect

Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. I am licensed to practice architecture in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey & Wisconsin and I am a certificate holder from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). Since 1996 I have worked from my home office and provide full architectural services exclusively to the single family residential market. My passion is to transform my clients' houses into their homes. I strive to have the "new" home accommodate my clients' lives without fighting them at every junction. I look to add curb appeal to encourage a beautiful streetscape. And I design any addition to look and feel like it has always been there.
Our projects have won numerous design awards as well as having...

Houzz Contributor. My name is Bud Dietrich and I am an architect located... More

Whether it's the pueblos of the American Southwest, saltboxes of the Northeast or Midwest Prairie-style houses, a home's design is best when it's compatible with the surrounding landscape and climate.

In an environment such as Florida, where the summers are hot and humid while the winters are dry and cool (often downright cold), a home should block the summer sun, allow for plenty of air movement and easily shed the rain. In addition, it should have a lot of thermal mass to absorb solar radiation during the day and then release all of it at night.

And with all of the wonderful green and blue of the surrounding tropical landscape and water, a Floridian home should have large and covered porches, verandas, lanais and other exterior spaces to take living outside. See more signature elements of the well-designed Florida house below.

Outside spaces are requisites for Florida homes. To keep the tropical breezes flowing while offering respite from the hot sun, these spaces should be open on at least three sides and covered with a roof or other shading device.

Florida coastal home designs have to consider tropical storms. Building codes mandate that windows, doors and exterior material assemblies must be able to withstand the flying debris, high winds and driving rains of these storms. Shutters or impact-resistant glazing is a must. And roofing and siding materials must comply with Florida codes and be approved for use.

And raising the house also has the benefit of creating porch spaces that can be perches to watch the water from.

Speaking of the water, why not bring some of the blue-green of the surroundings into the home itself? Whether in large swatches, like shutters, or in horizontal bands, like handrails, the colors chosen can create that wonderful connection of a home to its site.

Because warm air rises, a two-story Florida home needs a lot of shaded exterior space on the second floor. These types of spaces will let the warm air leave the house while also providing some great spots to sleep for all but a few weeks of the year.

Beautiful photos. Just one thing—a Florida home should also take into account the hurricane season. I would have enjoyed a reference to round homes, as they've proven time and again to stand up to hurricanes.

i can agree with these beautiful photos! over the centuries, Florida has had lots of different architectural styles for homes. but the best ones take advantage of our hot, humid, rainy, stormy, sunny climate! not only do they look great, but they function well, too.

there are 2 good resources for Florida homeowners which specialize in our hot humid climate: the Florida Green Building Coalition publishes magazines, newsletters, and checklists; and the US Dept of Energy publishes "best practices" guides for building in each climate zone.